CoastersRZ

Yes. But Dorney is not far from Hershey, and they do their own Christmas event. I have never been, but it seems successful. They don`t need to do it on as large of a scale as what they do at Kings Island, etc. Have some of the flat rides open, have a couple of shows, offer ice skating, etc. It would seem like they could pull something like that off. It may not bring in a ton of revenue, but a little bit of revenue is better than a fixed asset sitting unused.

And yet Dollywood just announced that they were adding 23 more operating days to their 2024 calendar. They are now open 280 days in 2024. https://hfe.widen.net/s/hm2pjhbzhb/24dw_opcal_festivals Without a festival and not being in a very touristy area, can`t say that I am too surprised that KD and Carowinds cut their year round hours. I am still a little surprised that they haven`t tried to bring Winterfest to any of the legacy Cedar Fair parks. Worlds of Fun had Winterfest, but have since discontinued it. Knott`s of course has something, but other than that, Winterfest is just held at the former Paramount Parks.

It would be nice to utilize that queue area for something other than a Haunt maze for six weeks out of the year. Filling that void and the Vortex plot would be welcome additions. Of course, I still think we will see something in the water park soon too.

And KI didn`t want to loose our original Flyers. Different company and regime at the time, but the decision to relocate them came from corporate. I have always believed that the Cedar Fair GMs have a lot of say of what capital gets spent at their parks, with input from corporate. I feel like at Six Flags, it is all controlled by corporate, and the GMs have very little say. Although Jeff Siebert, a former KI employee, seems to be bucking that myth/trend at his park (Six Flags Fiesta Texas).

I still love the atmosphere of a parade running through the park. Just creates some excitement and buzz. I know staffing it can be difficult. And I still don`t like how the parade "runs" back to its tent, after it has concluded on I-Street.

Yes, those pedal boats couldn`t turn left and right as quickly as the lazy river turned, so it often resulted in boats turned sideways. And whose idea was it to put pedal boats in a lazy river? I mean, at Coney, the footwells would often fill up with water and people`s shoes would get wet. Imagine that happening when it is 30 degrees outside! Yike! It will be interesting to see what becomes of the property now that there is a new owner. I know the Skyline near there has a new neighbor with a Texas Roadhouse. Speaking of that Skyline, it has some cool model train stuff inside of it.

Typically Haunt Saturday`s the park can get close to capacity. I know when I worked there back in 2013 and 2014 at Skyflyer during Haunt season, employees had to park out in the softball fields (past the water park) and they would shuttle us in, so that there were more spots for the guests.

I think that is overly optimistic. They have to pour foundations. And usually concrete needs about 28 days to reach 99% compressive strength. So its not like they can pour it Monday and set steel on it on Tuesday. It needs some time to cure and get its strength.

Exciting addition. I just made my first visit to Young`s this summer. Our kids loved it.

Just got back from Dollywood (Friday and Saturday). Yes, I believe that there are bins at all of the coasters. Big Bear Mountain is a wonderful ride. Very smooth, and has excellent pacing. My 4 year old daughter was tall enough to ride it and she loved it.

When Dorney Park removed Stinger (the former Invertigo from California`s Great America), they sent the train to Kings Island. The way I understand it is Kings Island has two Invertigo trains. They rebuild one in the summer months (which is the slower time of year for the maintenance teams). Then in the off season, all they have to do is take off the train on Invertigo`s track so it can be rebuilt the following summer. In the spring before the park opens they place the train that they rebuilt the previous summer on the tracks. Adventure Express and Flight of Fear operate somewhat similarly. Both rides have three trains, but only two are on the tracks in the normal season. In the summer seasons, the maintenance workers rebuild the third train. Then in the off season, they only have to rebuild one train for the following season, instead of two trains. Saves them on time during the off season rebuilding the trains, and the trains get some time off.

Yeah, I think for the crowds that Haunt draws, they need to increase the number of houses they have. Haven`t been this year yet, and with young kids I don`t know if I will make it up for Haunt this year or not.

I have yet to get a single pass perk for this season at Kings Island, and I have 19 visits so far this season...

I think part of the thing with Kentucky Kingdom, is the actual land is still owned by the Kentucky Fairboard. That could impact what things they do at that park. And they have only owned the park for two and a half years. It will be interesting to see what they replace T3 with. The park has potential, but there are a lot of constraints on it.

The one thing that immediately comes to mind, is Mystic Timbers. They could change the movie in the shed to something a little more sinister during Haunt with relative ease, I would imagine.

Where would you put the ice carvers and the toboggan tube slide? Having been to the Winterfest from 2005, the pathway in Octoberfest was pretty bare. They had decorations on Festhaus, and some on Bubba Gump`s at the time, but not much else. The current incarnation of Winterfest has a lot more decorations spread through the park then what the one back in 2005 had.

Some new paint on Viking Fury as seen tonight, September 1, 2023.

I believe that they typically will keep the same price until at least the end of October. Saying that the prices will increase creates a sense of urgency and would lead people to purchase their passes sooner.

What exactly were the park policy changes for Haunt? Are you referring to the fact that the park calendar lists the park being closed for an hour between the day operations and Haunt? If so, KI`s calendar does not list that same hour of not being open. Haunt is included with your pass, so its not like back in 2000-2002, when Haunt was an extra charge and they cleared the park of guests before letting the Haunt guests in. Although from a security standpoint that could be why they are doing that. Seems like a pain to clear the park and let everyone back in though... There is a reason why KI has not allowed re-entry after a certain time for Haunt.

And remember that with KI being open until the end of December for Winterfest, it makes logistics with these new attractions challenging, as they have essentially three and a half months with the park completely closed to do the major work.

Runaway Reptar/Flying Ace Aerial Chase has only ever operated with one train. If you have a second train, there would be a need for a storage track in the even one of the trains is non-operational for a day. I do not expect we will ever see a second train on it.

I agree about switching the exit/entrance set up. Seems to be a lot of crossing traffic with the only open metal detectors after 4pm on the left, but then you have to cross over those exiting. Seems like those should be reversed to avoid some of the cross over traffic. I agree, on several of my visits, this ride has had horrid lines because they are running so few cars and have so few people staffing. Same goes for Flume when they load one side. With Fastlane, that can turn a seemingly short line into a long, slow moving line. Earlier this year, I literally saw Flume one sided, while two employees were picking weeds below the final lift.

Agreed. It would be a little better if there was signage communicating this stuff to the guests. I mean, I remember when all rides used to be open all the hours the park was open. Just makes for a less enjoyable experience. Certainly doesn`t seem like they are making memories worth repeating. Wait, that might be the wrong park/chain...

I understand staffing and budgets, but it is a bit concerning to see so many rides closing early. My son was devastated tonight when we went to Flume (Race for your Life Charlie Brown), and it was closed at 9:08pm. I also noticed that train has been closing by 8pm. I get that some of these rides do not have large draws as the sun goes down. But they need to at least post signs at the rides saying that these rides will close early. Just seems like they are out to save a quick buck. I don`t like them closing a portion of Planet Snoopy early either. And if you want to get a drink with your drink plan after 9pm, forget about it. The drink stand in front of the Tower was closed by 9pm. The coke marketplace was open and packed tonight, but none of the Freestyle machines had any ice in them. Load times at Viking Fury were terrible tonight because they only had two operators, instead of the usual three, so the person in the drive box had to go down the steps after locking the restraints, and then go back up after checking the restraints. And Adventure Express has been down to one train operation this week. Ride operations just seems to be a bit off right now.

Separate ticketed event, but at least on the Kings Dominion page, all Gold and Platinum 2023 and 2024 passes include admission into the daytime events and the Haunt event. Maybe they are trying to have different tickets for the daytime stuff and then for the evening event? Not sure if they will clear the park or what. Carowinds` haunt is already a separate ticketed event, that your season pass does not give you admission to. Same holds true for Knott`s Scary Farm. They are actually selling a pass again this year that gives unlimited admission to Knott`s Scary Farm. I don`t see Kings Island making pass holders pay separately for Haunt. It has been included with a pass since 2003. That would be hard to upsell it to pass holders after being included for so long, and it is part of their marketing of the season pass. Seasons of fun. The first years of Fear Fest (2000, 2001 and 2002), it was a separate ticketed event and the crowds were a little smaller. But they also didn`t have all of the rides open. Flat rides like Scrambler, Monster, etc. were not open during Haunt. Back then they had Drop Tower, Delirium and a few other rides open for Haunt.